Grobschnitt - German for 'Rough Cut', as in Tobacco. Opening cuts on the first album have a bongoid southern cal vibe, and remind me of Santana at times. Funny story about the guitar player throwing a hissy fit at the orchestra during his rather beautiful solo on the album highlight Sun Trip, which is very elegiac and swan song-like in a bobby beausoleil Lucifer Rising kind of way. Marring the experience is their German hippy gonzo humor which was a big factor with these guys - think Guru Guru circa Kanguru; a self-indulgent pain in the ass as it really kills the flow of the music (which, being arch-prog, is self-indulgent to begin with). Solar Music Live is blessedly light on the goofy kraut antics and heavier on the Kozmische Musik, and as a result the best for these ears.
|